http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/80764635/climate-change-i-fear-kiribati-will-be-gone-forever

 

Kirita Moote is a teenager from the island nation of Kiribati. She says that the rising sea levels caused by climate change mean her people may have to leave their homeland permanently.

 

The country where I'm from is known as Kiribati. We refer to our home as the "kiss of the Pacific". It is a country with 33 islands or atolls which are located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Our country has problems but that doesn't mean life isn't beautiful here. We live by the sea and the sea is also a place where we can swim and play. I go to school and even play basketball. I have friends. Kiribati is peaceful.

Kiribati is also a poor country. It is a country with very basic healthcare and one which is affected terribly by difficult weather events like storms, cyclones and floods. The increased intensity and frequency of this bad weather is related to climate change.

The most devastating feature about climate change for my people is the rise of the sea level. Our land is very low lying, only about one metre above sea level. It means that any sea-level rise has a dramatic impact on our people.

What can we do? The people are building seawalls to protect ourselves from the rising water levels. 

This precaution alone is fine under normal weather conditions, but not when a storm or cyclone comes. The seawall is not enough to withstand the damage, the land and houses where we live cannot stand up to the effects of severe weather either.

The rising sea level meant water came into the house where my family used to live. The amount of water that came in was about half a metre high. 

The flooding of the house affected us badly because it resulted in an outbreak of diarrhoea. Diarrhoea can affect small children in particular, and can even kill them in very bad cases.

The underlying cause of this problem was climate change and even though no-one was hurt, we know from here that the problem will only get worse.

The fact that we have no fresh water is an even bigger problem. The reason for this shortage is that the country is very small. Fresh water becomes especially scarce during floods.

The islands are also overcrowded. There have been several relocations in Kiribati, simply due to the effects of climate change. A lot of people from other parts of Kiribati have come to the island where I used to live.

It all means that I will be forced to leave and move to another country and this hurts me deeply. It makes me very sad because I love my culture and identity, my friends and school.

What if I go somewhere and can never come back because Kiribati is gone, submerged beneath the rising sea waters? I fear that this will happen. We have to do something about climate change and not let the "kiss of the Pacific" vanish forever.

​This article was supplied as part of Stuff's partnership with Unicef NZ.​ UNICEF New Zealand stands for every child so they can have a childhood. Stand with us and give children in Kiribati the water and toilet facilities they need to stay healthy: unicef.org.nz/kiribati.